psu

[SilentDeath]

think i am needing new psu.. having done some more volt mods for cpu gfx and mobo ive noticed my 12v rail dropping from 11.82 down to 11.3 as soon as it goes under load :O
also get problems with restarting with vcore too high, think its the OCP in mobo but new psu should help
i measured with a multimeter and there is the same drop but about +0.2v becuase there is no resistance from long mobo traces (as the sensor on mobo is the other side of the board to the connector!)

which psu should i get? needs to be around 550w total as i might run a small TEC from it later on. pref between £50-100 (NO QTECS!!!)

Antec seem to be good?
scan sells CWT psus which are *suppost* to be exactly the same as antecs but half the price, no reviews on inet and there site is rubbishrubbishrubbishrubbishe.
antec are better than enermax?
ive heard of other good brands but only available in US

[atifds9]

can't go wrong with an antec to be honest mate, go for that.

[Fry]

I get rock solid performance from my Enermax

[malfunction]

Obviously I can't guarantee it but I have a 450W CWT PSU - I upgraded from an Antec TruPower 380 - and externally at least the two PSUs were identical - same vent holes, same fan grills, same QC stickers in the same places.

Also the 450W easily out performs the old 380W PSU (though that was pretty good). I've got a Tbred 1700+ that needs 1.85V to get to 2200MHz and the 450 held up better and had less wobble under high load (stress testing with prime 95 on the 380W had the vcore wobbling up and down by up to 0.2V - now it stays stable)

[SilentDeath]

do you know if the insides are the same? plenty of ppl say stickers are but knowones looked inside em

how niosy are the cwt's? i think ill be getting one of them
anywhere else apart form scan sell them?

one of the antec's i saw showed the ratings on the sticker for alll the psus, do the cwt's? would like to know what it says for ampage in 3.v 5v and 12v

[malfunction]

I did look inside but as it was a different W it looked different - similar layout though but then my knowledge of electronics is erm... crap... so it all looks kind of similar to me.

I'll post back the sticker ratings in a bit... (You know what I mean - max amps for each line)

[malfunction]

Important info from the sticker:

+3.3V = 28A
+5V = 40A
+12V = 20A
-12V = 0.8A
-5V = 0.5A
-5V SB = 2.0A

+5V and 3.3V combined output: 250W max

This also all matches the "Antec Solution Series" 450W PSU... I'm pretty convinced they're the same thing. However, looking at the TruPower 480 it seems that the TruPowers have separate lines for the 3.3V, 5V and 12V (at least it doesn't say that any are combined which it does say for the solution 450)

Also - looking at CWT's website (www.cwt.com.tw) they have 2 series of ATX PSUs - an 'A' series and a 'B' series. The B series seems to match the Antec Solution PSUs and the A series seem to match the TruPowers...

[malfunction]

They're very quiet - not silent but very quiet. Only place I can find that sells them is Scan unfortunately... I've had mixed experiences with them. Also worth noting that the 550W is probably an A series PSU as there's no B series 550W PSU but there is an A series - so comparing the Scan price for a 550W CWT PSU (£60) to the Ebuyer price for (presumably) the same Antec branded 550W PSU (just under £100!) seems like they're a pretty good deal (but being a bit tight I'd stick to the 450W unless you know you *really* need the extra power)

Edit - also Ebuyer price for Antec Smart 450 = £61.55. Scan price for CWT PSU = £34.65

[SilentDeath]

bah @ scan not having stock still!! (want the 550w one)

[SilentDeath]

mines arrived today
the psu was all shiny and v cold :O
though it does give WORSE voltages than my 350w unranded.
VCore: 1.76V, VMem: 2.59V, +3.3: 3.22V, +5.00: 4.89V, +12.00: 11.67V, -12.00: -11.94V, -5.00: 3.55V
vore is suppost to be 1.825 in bios, crappy nf7-s undervolts...
3.3 isnt too low. 5v is v low - my old psu was about 5.01v..., 12v is about the same as the 350w and -5v is erm... bit high....

important info from sticker thingys:
----------------+3.3v----+5v----+12v---------combined----max
350wunbranded:..32A.......35A.....17.5A...........210W..............330w
550wCWT:::::::..32A.......40A.......24A............530w..............550w

combined = +3.3+5 for the unbranded. = +3.3+5+12 for CWT becuase the rails are seperate on it..



so its not THAT much better, if it is even any better...

[Pita^Norf]

Originally posted by malfunction
Obviously I can't guarantee it but I have a 450W CWT PSU - I upgraded from an Antec TruPower 380 - and externally at least the two PSUs were identical - same vent holes, same fan grills, same QC stickers in the same places.

Also the 450W easily out performs the old 380W PSU (though that was pretty good). I've got a Tbred 1700+ that needs 1.85V to get to 2200MHz and the 450 held up better and had less wobble under high load (stress testing with prime 95 on the 380W had the vcore wobbling up and down by up to 0.2V - now it stays stable)

I have a CWT ADP 550W and if you compare the sepcs witht he Antec 550TP they look suspiciously identicle.

[Pita^Norf]

Originally posted by |SilentDeath|
mines arrived today
the psu was all shiny and v cold :O
though it does give WORSE voltages than my 350w unranded.
VCore: 1.76V, VMem: 2.59V, +3.3: 3.22V, +5.00: 4.89V, +12.00: 11.67V, -12.00: -11.94V, -5.00: 3.55V
vore is suppost to be 1.825 in bios, crappy nf7-s undervolts...
3.3 isnt too low. 5v is v low - my old psu was about 5.01v..., 12v is about the same as the 350w and -5v is erm... bit high....

important info from sticker thingys:
----------------+3.3v----+5v----+12v---------combined----max
350wunbranded:..32A.......35A.....17.5A...........210W..............330w
550wCWT:::::::..32A.......40A.......24A............530w..............550w

combined = +3.3+5 for the unbranded. = +3.3+5+12 for CWT becuase the rails are seperate on it..



so its not THAT much better, if it is even any better...

Have you tested the voltages from both PSUs with a voltmeter ?

I have the CWT and my +5 line holds steady at 5.01V and I'm running 5 HDD, 2 SCSI cards, 2 CDROMS, 9800pro, 1.95 Volts through the CPU and 5 Fans.

Prior to that I had a half decent 420W PSU and after overclocking the GFX the system kept power cutting out on me, the voltages were fine via voltmeter even when the WMD was telling me otehrwise, but the PSU just didnt poccess enough grunt (watts) to run 100% stable.

I know its too late now since you already have the new PSU, but if you never did experience any stability issues from those voltage readgings on your old PSU then I don't think you had any problems to start with, but IMO the CWT is non the less a worthy upgrade.

[SilentDeath]

with a DMM the +5 is 5.09v +12 is 12.01, about the same as the other psu. atm im using the EPS24pin->ATX20pin converter for mobo so there is lots of resistance atm... i will take the 24pin conenctor off and put the 20pin one on later to aviod the v long cable and resistance
before i was getting problems putting more than 1.9v thru vcore but that was i think the mobo causing it - new mobo now aswell

[Nox]

bit late i know, pc power & cooling are probably the best psu's out there, but only available in the US. However, if you're willing to pay 25% of total price shipping fees they will ship to europe, which puts their top of the range psu around £150... then you have to pray you dont get done for shipping tax on em. Waiting to see how much cash i have left after xmas...

Nox

[Pita^Norf]

Originally posted by Nox
bit late i know, pc power & cooling are probably the best psu's out there, but only available in the US. However, if you're willing to pay 25% of total price shipping fees they will ship to europe, which puts their top of the range psu around £150... then you have to pray you dont get done for shipping tax on em. Waiting to see how much cash i have left after xmas...

Nox

I wouldn't hold out much hope for chances of avoiding import duty. I bought 2 * GFX cards on ebay (US) earlier this year, the first one was taxed on its declared price of £130 and I was charged £20 for duty and £13 for PO handling fees !!

The second card I managed to talk the seller into declaring it at $40 but it was still done by customs for £8 but the same frigging PO handling fee.....talk about being able to write blank cheques and yet they still tell use they lose money !!??